Ollie Charles Vanek (August 23, 1908 — June 29, 2000) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player,

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and scout. He is best known as the talent-spotter who discovered future Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and encouraged the team to switch Musial from his initial position, a left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, to the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

— paving the way for Musial's brilliant career as a batsman.http://homepage.mac.com/williamszone/dostal/research/updates.html Vanek was an outfielder and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

during his minor league playing career from 1930–32 and 1937–46,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.312 in 1,195 games. In 1937, Vanek was the player-manager of the Monessen Cardinals of the Class D

Pennsylvania State Association The Pennsylvania State Association was a class D level league of minor league baseball that existed from 1934 until 1942. The league franchised were entirely based in Western Pennsylvania. History The Pennsylvania State Association was compos ...

, one of the many teams in the Cardinals' extensive farm system. Musial, a 16-year-old high-schooler from nearby

Donora, Pennsylvania Donora is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately south of Pittsburgh on the Monongahela River. Donora was incorporated in 1901. It got its name from a combination of William Donner and Nora Mellon, banker ...

, tried out for Vanek before a game and Vanek recommended that the parent club sign him. The following season, Musial began his professional career in the Cardinal system as a southpaw pitcher and part-time outfielder. When a sore shoulder (suffered making a catch in the field) derailed Musial's mound career, Vanek, in 1941, made him a full-time outfielder for his Class C

Springfield Cardinals The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springfield, Missouri. They compete as a member of the Texas League's North Division. The Cardinals began play in 2005. The team is owned by the 11-time Major League Baseball ...

of the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Weste ...

, and Musial responded by hitting .379 with 26 home runs in little more than half a season. By the end of 1941, he had begun his legendary

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

career with the big-league Cardinals. "Ollie was an excellent hitter and a good player," Musial said upon Vanek's death in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

at age 91 in 2000. " ... He was a good man and responsible for my start in St. Louis." Vanek managed Cardinal farm teams for 12 seasons, 1937–48, then became a scout for St. Louis, and, later, the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, where he won the

Gil Hodges Gilbert Ray Hodges (''né'' Hodge; April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played most of his 18-year career for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was widely regarded as t ...

Award for Meritorious Service.

References

External links

Career statistics, from Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanek, Ollie 1908 births 2000 deaths Allentown Cardinals players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Illinois Burlington Bees players Decatur Commodores players Greensburg Green Sox players Johnson City Cardinals players Lynchburg Cardinals players Minor league baseball managers New York Mets scouts St. Louis Cardinals scouts Springfield Cardinals players Williamson Red Birds players Place of birth missing Baseball players from St. Louis